2 more passengers evacuated from cruise ship test positive for hantavirus

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]Well, this is the second day of evacuations and no doubt Spanish authorities are breathing a sigh of relief because so far this very complex and carefully coordinated evacuation is going according to plan. Now on day one on Sunday, we saw 94 people evacuated from 19 different countries on seven different flights. One more flight expected today to the Netherlands. Now we were here yesterday in the early morning hours of Sunday morning when the ship first arrived and it has anchored off the coast of this very remote port in Tenerife in the Canary Islands. It has not moved. Instead, what we've seen are crews in hazmat suits ferrying the passengers five at a time to land. Uh those passengers carrying nothing more than basic belongings like cell phones and as soon as they arrive, they are then uh taken on buses to the nearby airport where they are hosed down, decontaminated, and then boarding repatriation flights back home. Now we've seen of course the case of the American having tested positive for the virus. A similar story unfolding in France. The country's prime minister confirming that one of the passengers did develop symptoms on the flight back home to Paris. Today, confirmation she has tested positive and her condition is deteriorating. Meanwhile, the ship here by the end of the day will be setting stale sail for the Netherlands. On board, 30 crew members and the body of one of the deceased passengers.

[00:01:31]Daniel Hamamdjian, NBC News in Tenerife.